Raccoon attacks teen in bathroom
A masked intruder bit a teenage girl inside of an Upper Darby house Monday and police are now looking for the bandit, who is described as a raccoon.
A masked intruder bit a teenage girl inside of an Upper Darby house Monday and police are now looking for the bandit, who is described as a raccoon.
"We got a wanted dead or alive out there for this raccoon," said Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood.
The 15-year-old victim was staying with her boyfriend at his parents house on Summitt Avenue when she awoke to use the bathroom around 4:35 a.m. and was attacked.
"The raccoon came in the bathroom, bit her on the leg and ran off," Chitwood said.
The teen was taken to a local hospital. Traps were set to catch the raccoon, but it remains on the run.
Since the raccoon was never caught, there's no way to tell whether it was rabid or not so the girl must undergo the lengthy rabies treatment process to be safe, Chitwood said. It's believed the raccoon got in to the house through a basement window and may have exited the same way.
In other wild animal news, the state Department of Health has tracked down a man who handled a rabid fox on Monday. The man found the injured red fox along Lancaster Avenue in Wayne and called police. When cops arrived on scene they found the man swaddling the animal in a blanket. After handing over the fox, he left without giving his information.
The fox was later determined to have rabies but the man, who was not bitten, does not seem to have contracted the disease, according to the Department of Health.